Milestone

I went out and raced the A's training crit again last night at Research Park.

The goal was the usual--ride hard until I get dropped, get back into the pack, ride hard until I get dropped, go home.

Three weeks ago the whole ordeal took 30 minutes.

Last night, I actually managed to hang in the whole race without getting dropped. I even took 3rd place in a sprint prime for a box of candy (largely because very few of the strong dudes were retarded enough to sprint for a box of DOTS...or were they CROWS...guess I'll never know). And I didn't finish last. I finished mid-pack. What's more, I got confirmation from a team-mate with years of race experience that I "wasn't riding sketchy at all." That felt good.

What gives?

I know that I didn't get exponentially stronger in three weeks. The answer likely lies in recovery and the FOAM ROLLER....though I don't have it fully pinned down yet.

What I do know is that at the last training race, my diet was okay and I was so-so on rest. At yesterdays, I was on a full night's sleep, an excellent diet, and some soft tissue work. I also did a 90 minute easy ride in the morning before work.

Again, I'm not precisely sure what made the difference, but my legs haven't felt as good as they did yesterday in a race yet this year.

It was a very proud moment, not getting dropped. Seeing guys that are local heros in the race with me. It was alright. I had a couple of mindfuck moments where I'd look over at guys that I see riding in the P/1/2 races and think...wait...this isn't right. I shouldn't be here. And in the end, they all did finish well before me and could have ridden me off of their wheels had they so chosen. But still, this week I didn't get dropped.

So yeah, that was the training stuff yesterday. 90' spin. 15' ride to crit. 50' of turning myself inside out with repeated forays into oxygen debt, and a 45' ride home. I bonked so hard on the ride home that I had to stop for a bagel. I've never been that defeated on a commute home. But it was worth it.